favorite weapon was simply incredible: and if he had offered to shoot a
pear off somebody's forage-cap, not a man in our regiment would have
hesitated to place the object upon his head.

Our conversation often turned upon duels. Silvio--so I will call him--
never joined in it. When asked if he had ever fought, he dryly replied
that he had; but he entered into no particulars, and it was evident that
such questions were not to his liking. We came to the conclusion that he
had upon his conscience the memory of some unhappy victim of his
terrible skill. Moreover, it never entered into the head of any of us to
suspect him of anything like cowardice. There are persons whose mere
look is sufficient to repel such a suspicion. But an unexpected incident
occurred which astounded us all.

One day, about ten of our officers dined with Silvio. They drank as
usual, that is to say, a great deal. After dinner we asked our host to
hold the bank for a game at faro. For a long time he refused, for he
hardly ever played, but at last he ordered cards to be brought, placed
half a hundred ducats upon the table, and sat down to deal. We took our
places round him, and the play began. It was Silvio's custom to preserve
a complete silence when playing. He never disputed, and never entered
into explanations. If the punter made a mistake in calculating, he
immediately paid him the difference or noted down the surplus. We were
acquainted with this habit of his, and we always allowed him to have his
own way; but among us on this occasion was an officer who had only
recently been transferred to our regiment. During the course of the
game, this officer absently scored one point too many. Silvio took the
chalk and noted down the correct account according to his usual custom.
The officer, thinking that he had made a mistake, began to enter into
explanations. Silvio continued dealing in silence. The officer, losing